Vegan Grilled Cheese Sandwiches – Three Ways!

I think it’s safe to say that y’all are well aware of just how much I love my melty cheese. It’s an addiction that runs deep, influencing my meal choices and recipe development on a daily basis. Whether it’s an ooey gooey bowl of mac and cheese, an easy cheesy stuffed spaghetti squash, or an epic game day cheese ball, cheese is sorta my thing.

When the folks at Daiya reached out and challenged me to take my obsession with all things melty and create a swoon-worthy plant-based grilled cheese sandwich I was fascinated. Could it melt? Could it stretch? Could these dairy-free slices-o-cheeze deliver a comfort food experience that only a grilled cheese sandwich could provide?

To my delight, the answer is a resounding YES! YES! 1000X YES!

These easy cheezy sandwiches are perfect for anyone who’s dairy-intolerant, allergic, vegan, or simply living a healthy lifestyle sans-moo-cow.

I wound up creating not one, but a trio of grilled cheeze amazingness. You’re going to do a double take, I just know it. Guys, this is the real deal! These plant-based slices were shockingly melty. Deli counter american cheese melty! Crazy awesome, right?

Wait… did I mention how MELTY they are?!

The best part (obvs!) is that they taste great too. Each bite was everything I wanted in a sandwich!

Ready to get cheezy? Let’s do this!

To make things easy, all recipes below will be for one serving (aka one grilled cheese sandwich) but y’all know the drill by now – they’re easy enough to double, triple, or quadruple as needed. Since the pilot and I were diving into each of these, I doubled each recipe so we each had our own easy cheezy sandwich!

Vegan Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese

Hello indulgence! This sassy sandwich is perfect for game day! Serve it up as a meal or slice into little squares for an easy party appetizer. They’re a total touchdown!

Instructions

First prep your jalapeño. Remove the stem and slice in half, removing the seeds and veins to dull a bit of the heat. Or leave them in for an extra spicy sandwich! Chop finely and set aside.

Spread one side of your bread with Daiya cream cheese and top with the chopped/minced jalapeño.

Top the second slice with Daiya Cheddar Style Slices and top with the pickled jalapeño slices.

Close your sandwich and, for an extra golden crust, spread the outside of each slice of bread with vegan buttery spread or coconut oil.

Next heat a pan to medium heat with some extra buttery spread or coconut oil. Once hot, add your sandwich.

Use a spatula to press down on the grilled cheese, and feel free to pop a clear pot lid on top to help melt the slices. Before flipping, add a little more spread/oil if your pan is dry. Pop your lid back on if you're using one and grill each side until golden brown.

Melty grilled cheese trick: For the meltiest sandwich ever, pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds or so after grilling for the most epic vegan cheese pull of all time! It's a bit dreamy.

You guys, my T-rex husband straight up DEVOURED this sandwich. He walked in as I was standing over the cutting board with half a sandwich hanging out of my mouth and held out his hand for the other half. Between the two of us these sandwiches didn’t last long and we inhaled them while watching the game!

sidenote: can we talk about how impossible stacking these sammies was? The thick melty slices made these bad boys into a leaning tower of deliciousness. Some problems aren’t really problems at all, eh? 😉

VEGAN Spinach Pesto Swiss Grilled Cheese

Pair this gorgeous green grilled cheese with a veggie-flecked side salad or a steaming hot cup of soup!

Instructions

First sauté your spinach on medium-high heat with a little buttery spread or oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Spread pesto on each slice of bread.

Top one slice with Daiya Swiss Style Slices and sautéed spinach, then top with the other slice, pesto side down.

For an extra golden crust, spread the outside of each slice of bread with vegan buttery spread or coconut oil.

Next heat a pan to medium heat with some extra buttery spread or coconut oil. Once hot, add your sandwich.

Use a spatula to press down on the grilled cheese, and feel free to pop a clear pot lid on top to help melt the slices. Before flipping, add a little more spread/oil if your pan is dry. Pop your lid back on if you’re using one and grill each side until golden brown with a melty center.

MELTY GRILLED CHEESE TRICK: For the meltiest sandwich ever, pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds or so after grilling for the most epic vegan cheese pull of all time!

Cranberry Pecan Provolone Vegan Grilled Cheese

Make the most of your holiday leftovers with this sweet and savory grilled cheeze sandwich! I used my go-to slow cooker cranberry sauce (I have some tucked in the freezer at all times) and used brown sugar in place of the honey to make it 100% vegan. Easy peasy!

Instructions

Top one slice with a sprinkle of crushed toasted pecans and Daiya Provolone Style Slices and top with the remaining slice.

For an extra golden crust, spread the outside of each slice of bread with vegan buttery spread or coconut oil.

Next heat a pan to medium heat with some extra buttery spread or coconut oil. Once hot, add your sandwich. Use a spatula to press down on the grilled cheese, and feel free to pop a clear pot lid on top to help melt the slices. Before flipping, add a little more spread/oil if your pan is dry. Pop your lid back on if you’re using one and grill each side until golden brown with a melty center.

Comments

I am so impressed! I’m doing a 30-day semi-vegetarian challenge and didn’t think I could find any cheese to make the perfect substitution for my favorite grilled cheese sandwich. I was wrong obviously. Your recipes have convinced me otherwise. Definitely, I will try this.

My friend has recently started eating vegan and we were looking for recipes of different everyday foods that we could make that our friend group would all enjoy. We tried these recipes and all of us are in love! they are so much better than the boring normal grilled cheese!

Rina

Hey Jenn! This is a fantastic recipe. I recently watched a film called Chef (2014 year, I think) and in that this man makes this fab-looking cheese sandwich for his sun. It looked so awesome that I immediately wanted to try and make it. Then I stumbled across your recipe through the lovely Pinterest, and guess what, it looks similar to what I saw there. Although I played around with the fillings, my sandwich looks good and delicious too. I added a lot of cheese and next I;m going to try on using mayonnaise. My kids love it, and I;m going to experiment with this recipe more. And you got a new follower today! Cheers!

Dwarren

I just made this for a light dinner and it was so delicious! I did a combination of the spinach and pesto but with cheddar Daiya cheese since that’s all I could find. Made my own vegan pesto too, SO Good! Thank you! Next time I will use a thicker bread.

So glad it was great with cheddar Daiya – awesome! Ohmygosh and you have goooot to try it on Ciabatta bead sometime too, it’s legendary and if you buy a loaf you can cut the slices extra thick too 🙂 Love it!

Candance S Harrison

I’m not looking to become full vegan or vegetarian…I’m a meat-eater just looking to swap out foods where I can. I’m lactose-intolerant yet I love cheese, butter, and ice cream. I gave up milk for soy milk when my body got “angry” at even the smallest amounts. That being said, I have thought of swapping out to other dairy-free products but I worried that the aspects I enjoy most about a food like cheese won’t be there. I love italian food, tex-mex, and grilled cheese…flavor, pull, and creaminess are LIFE! Is switching worth it?

Hey Candance! I’m also loving dairy despite being lactose intolerant. When it comes to cheese I’ve found that harder cheeses actually have little to no lactose left in them after the cheese is made, (Parmesan cheese, for example) and even certain cheddars (like Cabot brand cheddar) are virtually lactose free and easy on the body.

Mozzarella, while I love it, usually doesn’t agree with me if I have more than a very small amount so these melty vegan slices can be a lifesaver! I would say it’s totally worth a try to swap in some dairy free cheese and see how you like it! I’ve found certain soups can be really creamy without cream (potato based and cauliflower based soups, for instance) and that I really do love a good vegan grilled cheese sandwich. Other times I beeline for the dairy and just pop a lactaid (lol!) – it’s all balance in my book! I would say follow your heart (and tummy!) and see what works for both your body. Let me know how it goes! ❤️

Helen

My favorite vegan replacements for dairy:

For mozzarella I like Chao cheese creamy original. I use this on pizzas.

For cheddar, provolone and Monterey Jack, Daiya is good. I like Daiya slices better than the shredded. The slices make an awesome grilled cheese. The Jalapeño Monterey Jack comes in a block and it is so good I just eat it straight. It is also great as crackers and cheese which was a favorite snack of mine before I had to stop eating dairy.

Ben and Jerry’s makes 4 flavors of almond milk based ice cream that are really good. My favorites are the almond based Chunky Monkey and coffee caramel.

For non-dairy butter, Earth Balance is great. They make spread and sticks.

For soft cheese (like goat cheese), the best I have found is Miyoko’s Kitchen Double Cream. All of her cheeses are cashew based. You can order them online and some Earthfares carry them.

I’ve been largely trying to move to a vegan lifestyle, but life without cheese seems quite bleak – I can’t wait to try these and if it tastes as good as it looks – I think I’m all set for the Vegan life! <3

Hope you get a chance to give them a go, Tina! Totally try the jalapeño popper one first if you like peppers, I think it was my carnivore husband’s favorite so that is totally sayin’ something about its cheeze factor! Love it!

Omg…I’ve recently realized that too much lactose was triggering my acid reflux…yay! So I’ve become good friends with Daiya over the past month. You’re sammiches just made me a little more okay with the whole having to eliminate eating all cheese all the time. Cranberry Pecan Provolone is soooooo happening!

Thanks Angela! Have you had their slices? I was literally blown away by them and I like the dairy-free provolone more than the moo cow version – holy yum! And the cheddar? Ahhhhh dreamy!! Let me know if you end up trying the cran sandwich! 🙂 <3

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